After the great successes of 747, it appeared to both sides in the
War that the victory of Atlantis and her allies must take place within
the next year. However, this view soon seemed cruelly mistaken.
Certainly, Atlantean advances continued in the north, where she
undertook a meticulously prepared and wholly successful amphibious
invasion of Anauren, while Gestskallandieh continued to make inroads
into Skalland territory. But these successes did not end the war with
Skallandieh, and later in the year, Atlantean and Gestskalland armies
had bogged down again.

The war against the Ughans was less successful, and despite the
Atlantean and Gestskalland armies gradually forcing them back into the
Ughan interior, the war was still going on at the end of the year. As
far as the Basquecs were concerned, Gosscalt showed his strategic genius
at its greatest, moving quickly between the Atlantean and Rabarran
armies, and defeating or halting each in turn. The allies were not
helped by the increasing mistrust between Atlanteans and Basquecs over
their war plans and objectives, after the final defeat of the Basquecs.
The Rabarrans, although still the recipients of large amounts of
military aid from the Atlanteans, resented being tied to their war aims,
which obviously involved the restoration of the former Atlantean Empire,
at the expense of both Basquecieh and Rabarrieh. The Rabarrans wanted to
make their own way to victory, and conclude their own peace-terms with
the Basquecs, irrespective of the aspirations of their overbearing ally.

Atlantis, of course, wanted to make sure she reaped the benefits and
glory of the defeat of the Basquecs, but found, as the year progressed,
that for reasons of both geographical distance and internal military and
political difficulties, she could not match the growing strength of the
Rabarran armies. Thus it was a simple geographical fact that the
Rabarran armies, especially after they had split from any united command
with the Atlanteans, were much closer to the heart of the Basquec Empire
than was their ally: the Atlantean forces were hundreds of miles from
Bavcuat or Quachach, whether in Manralia or on the river Gestes.
Moreover, although the overall Atlantean armed forces reached a peak of
some 1400000 men at the start of 748, their numbers fell off rapidly
after that. By the beginning of 749, they were down to 855000 and
falling (especially those actually at the frontline), while the
Rabarrans had gone up from 700000 in 748 to 790000 by 749, and passed
the Atlantean total later in that year. There are various reasons for
this Atlantean decline. One was that Brancerix was finding it
increasingly difficult to conscript more men, due to organisational
shortcomings, war casualties, lack of manpower available, and outright
opposition to the continuing war. Thus, while the enemies of Atlantis
were threatening her very heart, the citizens of the Empire were very
willing to fight to defend her. But by 748 and 749, when all or nearly
all Atlantean territory was cleared of enemy forces, many people felt a
much diminished urge to risk their lives in the war. Furthermore, as we
shall see in more detail below, political opposition to the Third Empire
regime was building up fast. This meant more unwillingness to fight for
a hated Government, and the need to deploy more and more forces
internally to quell riots and other armed opposition.

GOSSCALT’S PLAN TO SAVE HIS COUNTRY

Gosscalt had spent the winter reconstituting his main army on the
Gestes at Vulcanipand, and creating a mobile strategic force of 80000
men. At the same time, he made his first – and only – feelers for
peace with Atlantis. But his conditions were utterly unacceptable,
demanding that the Basquecs should retain all the territory still in
their hands south of the river Gestes, and east of the Gairase. He
refused to treat with the Rabarrans, and obviously intended to throw his
whole army against that nation, if he obtained peace from the Atlanteans.
Anyway the negotiations came to nothing. Gosscalt now intended to use a
central strategic force plus himself to reinforce the army on the
Itheerdi, and crush the Rabarrans there, then move to relieve Atlaniphis,
and finally return to deal with the main Atlantean army, still west of
the Gestes, as he hoped. If he was successful, he could then either
carry on with proper offensives, or try again to make Atlantis settle
for peace. Elsewhere, he would stay on the defensive.

So during March, he reinforced his army on the Itheerdi, near the
Basquec border to 170000 men, and hurled it at the Rabarrans, who had
180000 men, many of them straggled out in little groups along the river.
In the Battles of the River Itheerdi on April 2nd-7th,
Gosscalt crushed parts of these forces in detail, and sent them all
retreating many miles eastwards up the river. He then turned his mobile
force northwards to Atlaniphis. Here he joined the army of 60000 men
already in place, facing about 65000 Atlanteans. An initial attack
forced the Atlanteans back, and Gosscalt surrounded the city, and began
its siege at the beginning of May. Atlantean attempts to relieve it
repeatedly failed, and Buentel was forced to abandon his siege of
Noutens, and bring 30000 more men south to try to force the Basquecs
back. Gosscalt had foreseen this, and his forces in Noutens emerged and
harassed the rear of the retreating Atlanteans.

But then a new emergency arose. Gosscalt had always intended to
finally move on north, and fight the Atlanteans west of the Gestes, but
at the beginning of June, he received news that this army, having
earlier made some ineffectual gestures against the Basquec forces in the
well-defended Vulcanipand position, had seized Borepande, and crossed
the river. In fact Lingon had soon become aware that he could not defeat
the well-defended enemy force at Vulcanipand (although it was only half
the strength of his army), and his lunges here were only ruses. At the
end of May, he suddenly threw 110000 men against the much less
well-defended fortress of Borepande. The Basquecs here, numbering only
40000, defended well, but were out manoeuvred and surrounded in the
fort. Leaving a besieging force behind, Lingon now crossed the Gestes
with 90000 men. He advanced south down the east of the river, and
crossed the Thawril. The Basquec Vulcanipand army succeeded in limiting
any further move south by the Atlanteans, and held them back till the
hurried arrival of Gosscalt and his mobile force at the end of June.
There followed a series of cautious manoeuvres by the two sides.
Gosscalt deliberately drew Atlanteans south, over the river Vulcan,
while maintaining a strong force in Vulcanipand. Then, on July 20th,
he struck. He counter-attacked across the Thawril with 80000 men, and a
force of 40000 emerged from Vulcanipand against the enemy flank. This Battle
of the River Vulcan saw the Atlanteans badly defeated, losing 30000
men out of 100000, and forced to retreat northward. But they still
remained on the east of the Gestes, and ultimately the Basquecs were
unable to force them back across it.

Few further successes were obtained by Atlanteans or Rabarrans
elsewhere, either. Buentel did relieve the siege of Atlaniphis
eventually, at the cost of having abandoned the siege of Noutens. On the
other hand, the city of Dohgash, the only other one still in Basquec
hands in Manralia, fell to the Atlanteans on their march south from
Noutens. The siege of Noutens was re-established in the autumn, using
reinforcements, and the city finally fell in December. To the south,
Rabarran attacks against the Basquecs in the interior of the country,
and on the river Basquec, were largely unsuccessful, especially when
Gosscalt returned to take charge of this front after the Battle of the
River Vulcan.

The war with the Ughans produced few victories for the Atlanteans
during this year. The Gestes was crossed in a few places, but the
defensive positions of the Ughans in the Gestix Mountains were far too
strong for the Atlanteans to be able to take them. Their army here had
in any case been reduced to 90000 by the summer. Some more success was
obtained by the Gestskallands, who were able to concentrate over 240000
men against 140000 Ughans in the north .By the end of 748, the
Gestskallands had forced their way through the gap between the Gestix
and Yrullia Mountains, and captured Yrullia in December. However, they
were unable to reach the capital, Gargros, itself.

The main success for the Atlanteans in 748 was the amphibious
invasion of Skallandieh. Having decided it was impossible to force a
decision by land, a large armada, along with 40000 troops, was prepared,
in order to invade Skallandieh by sea. As the Bay of Marossan was now
under complete Atlantean control (the Skalland fleets were blockaded in
Phaioso, and isolated in the Bay of Eliossia), the plan was to invade
the former territory of Marossan jn the region south of the river
Ruphaio.

The victory of Atlantis over Skallandieh, 747 - 749

The invasion duly took place on April 28th, and went off
without hitch, the remains of the Skalland navy being blockaded in
Phaioso. The invading troops turned south-eastwards after the landing,
aiming to strike the Skalland forces defending the line of the river
Noilafa in rear. The Skallands put up a strong resistance, and brought
reinforcements north from the south. Nevertheless, they were decisively
beaten at theBattle of Buatphaio, on May 22nd,
and soon after, the Atlantean forces south of the Noilafa were able to
advance northwards, and join up with the amphibious troops. However, the
Atlanteans found themselves unable to gain any more successes in this
area, as the Skallands poured in reinforcements.

Now the area north of the river Ruphaio remained wholly in Skalland
hands, and a perpetual threat to the left flank of the Atlanteans. So a
second amphibious invasion was organised for later in the year, this
time to the north, in the Bay of Eliossie, near Neryaso. A large naval
force moved into the Bay in August, forcing the remains of the Skalland
navy here back into port. Then the amphibious troops landed, as planned,
on August 30th. Even greater surprise was achieved than in
the earlier invasion, and soon the Atlanteans, numbering from 35000 to
50000 men, swept south, taking the Skalland troops on the border of
Yciel Atlantis in rear. They then seized Phaioso, linked up with the
southern forces, and moved 100 miles to the east, before the Skallands
forced them to halt. By the end of the year, virtually the whole of
former Anauren had been liberated, and the Skallands were defending
their own Empire.

In 749, Atlantis and her allies approached complete victory at
last. In June, Ughrieh, her capital taken by the Gestskallands, sued for
peace. Then in September, Skallandieh too, invaded by Atlantis and
Gestskallandieh, surrendered. Only Basquecieh remained defiant by the
end of the year, and she too was under siege by Atlantis and Rabarrieh,
and could not survive much longer. And yet, despite these harbingers of
victory, the Atlantean Empire became immersed in civil turmoil, and
almost revolution, in 749. This disorder continued into 750, when final
victory was gained over Basquecieh, and only finally ceased in 751, with
the establishment of the Fourth Empire, and an entirely new social and
political order.

As we have already noted, discontent with the war had been growing
for a year or more amongst Atlanteans unwilling to submit to
conscription. Core Atlantean territory had already been largely cleared
of the enemy, and victory seemed only a matter of time, so why should
ordinary Atlanteans risk their lives unnecessarily? But this was only
part of much wider social and political unrest. There was a growing
impatience with the whole rigid Third Empire structure. Brancerix and
the ruling Squires were determined not to change one iota of the social
set-up, during or after the war. Yet the war itself was producing many
changes of its own. Conscription and the movement of large armies all
over the Empire and beyond led to increased social mobility, and a
widening of the horizons of ordinary people. Large-scale
industrialisation enhanced the importance of industrialists,
factory-owners, and the middle classes in general. All these now wanted
some participation in the running of the Empire. Equally, early military
disasters and political mishaps had shown the need to extend
participation in government and army beyond the elite, which currently
ran the country. Indeed Brancerix had been forced to throw open careers
in the military to the middle classes, and offer important posts to
talented people, whatever their social class. He also created an
Advisory Council of representatives from the major industrial towns in
746, and, on a limited scale, he included some "outsiders" in
the governing circles. Finally, there had been cautious demands for
political change for the past twenty years - more freedom, democracy,
and social mobility -, but now, in the war years, these became much
louder and more insistent.

Up until 747, the government faced little trouble, as the whole
population was concerned only to fight off the Empire’s enemies. But
in 748 and 749, internal order in the Empire began to break down with
frightening rapidity. Vocal demands for more of the population to be
able to share in national and local government increased. Then, when
occupying Basquec or Ughan troops were thrown out of lands and estates
they had occupied in Dravidieh and Cennatlantis by the military
counter-attacks of 747-8, the original landlords, usually Squires, found
themselves unable to simply reoccupy their traditional places. They were
threatened, evicted or removed from power by local people. The
Government had to employ the Army to protect its representatives, and
indeed Class 1 and 2 Squires, and several Provinces were placed under
martial law in 748-9. However, this policy began to collapse, too, as
unrest grew within the army itself, with revolts and disorder by lower
ranks in favour of the non-landowning classes.

Brancerix and his colleagues tried to crack down hard. The Emperor
refused to make any further concessions after 748, and tried to turn the
political clock back to 742. He aimed to keep the Army in Squire hands.
He supported his Minister for the Provinces, who was leading the way by
imprisoning objectors and dissidents, and enforcing martial law. He
recreated the old Internal Security Force, now called the Internal
Military Police. Most damningly, though, he made no attempt to alleviate
the personal and economic hardship and suffering, which the war was
producing in towns and countryside. This misery led to further disorder
and food riots in many places throughout 749. Nevertheless, the Emperor
tried desperately to unite the Empire, by asking them to make one last
effort together to finish off the enemy, who were already so nearly
beaten.

By 749, many in the ruling class had come to the decision that
Brancerix himself would have to be sacrificed. Some felt a few
concessions to the rebels would have to be made; others considered the
Emperor had not been harsh enough in repressing the discontent. As a
result, a successful and bloodless military coup took place in May, and
Brancerix was removed from power. There were a few pre-emptive arrests
of his closest supporters, but it is amazing how few friends he seemed
to have, when the crunch came. He was allowed to retire to his estates,
and his place was temporarily taken by an Imperial Succession Council,
under the close control of the Army Generalissimo and three Officers of
State. But the political crisis convulsing the Empire now went from bad
to worse. The members of the new Council were totally unable to agree on
anything themselves, and riots and disorder spread throughout the
Empire.

The parties now jockeying, and, increasingly, fighting for power, can
be put into three groups. Firstly, the old Squirearchy - the landowning
Classes 1 and 2 -, who were themselves divided into liberals, who were
willing to make some further concessions, and traditionalists, who
wanted to force the Empire back to the way it had been before the war.
Secondly, the new Middle Classes, industrialists, businessmen,
professional people, small landowners and writers and thinkers, who were
generally moderate in their demands, but wanted to make a new start with
a mildly democratic government, which would include themselves in its
ranks. They wanted to see the end of elite rule by Squires, and of
authoritarian rule and imposed political and religious faiths. They did,
however, want to keep the lower classes in their place. But the lower
classes were in fact a third group rebelling against the Third Empire,
and they were much more extreme in their views. They demanded far
greater equality for all, and in some cases sought the replacement of
the Empire by a Republic. This demand sent a cold chill down the backs
of both other groups, and opposition to it was one area in which they
found common ground.

There was of course a fourth power in the land, a very strong one at
this time, the Army. Most of it was still on the fronts fighting the
enemy, but increasing sections of it were left behind to enforce
internal security. As we have seen, there was already some disorder
within the middle and lower ranks, which sometimes tended to support the
rebels and rioters. The leaders now also flexed their muscles, and
forced the Succession Council to come to a decision about a new Emperor.
In December, they persuaded it to install Riuden, a slightly liberal
Squire, to be supported by a Reform Council.

Meanwhile, the wars went on, and on two fronts they led to the
victory of Atlantis and her allies within the year. The first success
was against Ughrieh. By March, the Ughans were in a desperate situation.
Two Gestskalland armies of over 20000 men were at the gates of the
capital, Gargros, and to the east, devoid of defences, numbers of
nomadic tribes were pushing into Ughan territory. East of the Gestes,
but still west of the Gestix Mountains was an Atlantean army of 70000.
To defend itself, the Ughans had over 80000 men against Atlantis, but
only 140000 against the NE Empire, with other garrisons scattered around
the country.

Within two months, Gargros had fallen to the Gestskallands after a
fierce final battle, but already the country was disintegrating.
Southern areas had thrown off their allegiance to Emperor Tjaidon, and
had made an armistice with Ughrieh. In the north, Tjaidon, having fled
his capital with the court, was deposed, and soon murdered. Atlantis and
Gestskallandieh had previously agreed to make a joint peace settlement,
and insisted on a formal Ughan surrender. But the trouble was that it
was no longer easy to work out with which party peace should be made.
Moreover, the two victors had hardly agreed amongst themselves on the
peace terms, as Atlantis had far smaller armies in the field than the
Gestskallands, who were indeed in possession of the Ughan capital.

Peace was agreed in June, but the peace terms were haggled over for
months afterwards. The victors had long intended to split Ughrieh up as
unified country, each taking portions either as outright annexations or
as zones of control. This scheme was facilitated by the fact that the
old Empire was splitting up of its own accord after April. Three
separate kingdoms, north, central and south, had appeared, which in fact
partly reflected the Ughan situation before unification after 710. The
capital, Gargros, with Tjaidon’s successor as Emperor became the
central section. Atlantis took control of the area immediately east of
the Gargros mountains, which she already occupied. But after much
discussion and controversy, she did not annex it as such, but left it as
one of the Ughan kingdoms, under close Atlantean supervision.
Gestskallandieh annexed much territory north and south of the river
Gestes as far as the Yrullia Mountains, and also made sure she had
direct control of the northern Ughan kingdom. Overall, Ughrieh was left
in an utterly wrecked political situation, with most of her population
at the mercy, directly or indirectly, of the two victorious powers. But
Gestskallandieh had come out of the war at least as well off as
Atlantis, partly because of the strength of her military position at the
time of victory, and partly because Atlantis was increasingly
preoccupied by her internal political divisions.

Victory over the Ughans was followed in September, by the
surrender of Skallandieh. As with Ughrieh, it was clear by the start of
749 that Skalland defeat could only be a matter of time, and Atlantis
and Gestskallandieh began talking about their plans for the post-war
settlement. Gestskallandieh was determined that she should take over and
reunite the whole Skalland Empire again, and there was obviously no way
Atlantis could prevent this. But while Brancerix was still in power, the
Atlanteans insisted that Anauren should be reconstituted as part of the
Atlantean Empire. The North Kelt area, mostly under Gestskalland
occupation anyway should be split. During this period, the first half of
the year, the Atlanteans retook the whole of former Anauren, but had
problems advancing across the Ruphaio into Skalland territory. The
Gestskallands were more successful in their progress westwards, and also
into Kelt areas.

After the fall of Brancerix, Atlantis’ position weakened, and she
agreed in the end to annexing just the south of Anauren, up to the river
Sulophaio, and leaving the rest as an independent kingdom. Arguments
over the Keltish lands continued, and although Gestskallandieh had
already occupied them, Atlantis insisted she still had a Province there
called Nunkeltanieh. This fiction was finally abandoned in 752, when a
comprehensive settlement made this whole area a theoretically separate
Kelt state, under Gestskalland supervision. It fell soon after
completely under Gestskalland control. Meanwhile the war rolled on to
its end in September, with the Skallands finally surrendering to the two
victors simultaneously. By this stage, Atlantean forces were penetrating
into the Skalland homeland, and into the former Eliossien area, to which
the Skalland capital had been moved in 747.

VICTORY OVER BASQUECIEH STILL ELUDES ATLANTIS AND RABARRIEH

Atlantean and Rabarran pincers slowly but inexorably closed in on Gosscalt’s
armies throughout 749, and for all his genius, the writing was clearly on the
wall by the latter part of the year. At the same time, Atlantis could see the
initiative in the war gradually passing from her to the Rabarrans. Her armies
were further from the heartlands of Basquecieh, and they were becoming
outnumbered by the Rabarrans, in any case. Throughout the year 300000
Rabarrans were moving into the interior of the Basquec Empire from the south,
160000 of them advancing up the river Basquec towards Quachach and Bavcuat.
Gosscalt had to spend at least half of his time dealing with this threat, and
the mobile army, which he had employed to good effect against the allies in
748, had had to be sent south during the winter to deal with these Basquec
armies. On the Gestes, his army of 110000 men, which he accompanied at first,
made a slow and careful withdrawal to the river Vulcan in March, and then
across it and the river Yallodairu, south-eastwards through Vulcanieh towards
the Raziris mountains during April, May and June. Lingon’s Atlantean army,
numbering 160000, followed the Basquecs, but was unable to bring it to a real
battle. It was joined in due course by Buentel’s Manralian army from
Atlaniphis, 100000 strong, which edged back its Basquec opponent (70000) up
the Gairase.

Meanwhile the Rabarran army on the Itheerdi, now 180000 strong, finally
overwhelmed the opposing army of 110000 in a battle in August. The Basquecs
were forced to retreat SE up the river Banchat, and the Basquec position in
the Raziris Mountains was turned. Rather than try at this stage to deal with
the Basquecs in Vulcanieh and Razira, who were left to the mercies of the
Atlantean army, the Rabarrans opted to follow up the Basquecs right down to
the Och Therult (Therult Mountains), which protected Bavcuat from the north.
Seeing that he was now being left out of the chase altogether, Lingon
suggested that Buentel should remain behind in Razira and Vulcanieh to deal
with the remaining Basquecs there, to prevent them from interfering with the
decisive battles further south, while he hurried on south, up the Gairase and
Banchat, to join the Rabarrans in the Therult Mountains. This plan had the
merit of giving the Atlanteans a presence, though only a minor one, in the
final battles against Gosscalt next year. It also upset Gosscalt’s plans for
the rest of the year, as he was sure that if he left a reasonable sized force
behind in Razira and the Raziran Mountains, then all the Atlantean forces
would have to stay behind to deal with them. This might then give him the
chance of separating the two allies, and allowing him either to defeat them
independently, or make peace with the Atlanteans separately from the
Rabarrans.

The Rabarrans moved up to the river Gedvox later in the autumn, but the
Basquecs were able to prevent them crossing it for some time. Lingon,
meanwhile, had hurried down the Gairase and round the Raziris mountains to
join up with the Rabarrans in what appeared to be the final battles. The
approach of the Atlanteans made the Basquecs abandon the river Gedvox and
retire back to the Therult mountains by December. To the north, Buentel
remained behind with some 100000 men and faced 80000 Basquecs and the forts in
the Raziris Mountains. He sent a force round them to the south, to threaten
Raziris itself, and protect Lingon’s rear (although he had an alternative
line of communications now up the river Itheerdi, like the Rabarrans.)

In the spring of 750, Atlantean and Rabarran armies closed in on the
mountainous homeland of the Basquecs from every direction. In the south 180000
Rabarrans were moving up the river Basquec and the roads to the east forcing
back an army of about 150000 Basquecs. By the end of April the Basquecs had
entrenched themselves on southernmost end of the high ground which covered the
whole area for about 200 miles to the north up to the source of the river
Banchat, and also stretched some 120 miles west to the sources of the rivers
Gedvox and Basquec and east to Quachach and almost to Votthac. Here the almost
uncrossable Thecvach mountains separated the eastern road to Quachach and the
western road to Tovduitth. At the beginning of March, the Rabarrans forced the
Basquecs to split their armies: the largest force, about 70000 men moved some
miles north-east to protect the capital, while a smaller force of 50000 men
guarded the difficult route to Tovduitth. At first the Rabarrans sent 110000
men on the Quachach road and contented themselves with observing the Basquecs
to the west with just 70000. Separately from them, 120000 Rabarrans were
roughly parallel on the river Rualtacch pressing back about 50000 Rabarrans,
with the eventual aim of reaching Votthac, which lay on the river about 50
miles east of the capital, Quachach. The latter armies were not involved in
the great battles of April and May, however.

In the north, Lingon with his 120000 Atlanteans began moving south up the
river Banchat in March: he was accompanied by 50000 Rabarrans. The remaining
90000 men of the Rabarrans' Army of the River Itheerdi and commanded by
General Seeldu, branched off south up the Gedvox. This was a plan agreed
between the two commanders, which, it was hoped, would allow this southern
Rabarran army to cross the pass through the mountains by the Gedvox and aim
straight for Bavcuat. This was the base of the main Basquec army facing Lingon
in the Therult mountains, where Gosscalt himself was now situated. This threat
to his rear ought to make Gosscalt retreat south on Bavcuat and open the
northern routes of the mountains to Lingon.

At the beginning of April, the allied army under Lingon had reached the
narrow mountain pass through which ran the direct road to Bavcuat. On a ridge
of high ground in the middle of this pass was the defensive position held by
the Basquecs in 661 during the First Battle of Quachach. At that time
Ruthopheax defeated the Basquecs with a brilliantly conceived attack. This
time Gosscalt again placed part of his army here, but as armies, because of
modern weapons with longer ranges, could nowadays occupy wider fronts than in
the earlier wars, he also occupied some of the hills to the west. Lingon had
no intention of trying to break down this position. Due to entrenchments and
the range of rifled weapons, it was much stronger than in the time of
Ruthopheax. Instead some 70000 men moved west through other passes of the
mountains near Cuaduitth, while Lingon just demonstrated in front of the main
Basquec position. Gosscalt had placed forces to defend the other passes, but
the allies managed to get through some of them. At the same time the southern
Rabarran army had moved up the Gedvox and through the mountains on the road
leading to Bavcuat from the west. Gosscalt realised by April 8th
that his whole position had been turned, and reluctantly retreated slowly
southwards, finally taking up a position on the high ground north of Bavcuat
on the 14th. This position allowed him to command both the road to
the south-east which led to Quachach, while also guarding the road west to the
Gedvox and the route south-west to Tovduitth. Behind him lay the
insurmountable peaks of the Thecvach mountains. The allied army followed
warily, while the Seeldu's army from the Gedvox positioned itself on hills
about 40 miles west of Bavcuat, and, crucially, in a rather isolated position.

(Click on thumbnail)The advance of the allies into Basquecieh, 749 - April 750

GOSSCALT'S COUNTER-ATTACK AND THE RETREAT OF THE ALLIES TO CUADUITTH,
APRIL 17th - 23rd

Gosscalt realised as he retreated on Bavcuat that he had a brief chance of
defeating the two enemy armies separately, and at then forcing them off to the
north and west. At Bavcuat he had about 150000 men facing Lingon's allied
force of 170000. About 40 miles to the west lay Seeldu's 95000 Rabarrans
facing a Basquec army of 60000. Gosscalt quietly disengaged 70000 of the
150000 men at Bavcuat, marched them westwards on April 15th - 16th
and on the 17th they smashed into the Rabarrans from the
south-east. The Rabarran army was comprehensively defeated, losing 26000 men
and sent reeling back north-west. This was away from their communications down
the Gedvox and into the forested area around the edges of the Therult
mountains. Meanwhile the Basquec army turned round and marched back eastwards
on the 18th, this time aiming to join the main army in an attack on
the allies in front of Bavcuat. In this Battle of Bavcuat, on 19th
April, the Basquecs were again successful, inflicting 23000 casualties on the
Lingon's army of 170000. In these two battles the Basquecs only lost about
15000 men in total.

The allies were initially forced to retreat northwards up the road along
which they had approached Bavcuat just a few days earlier. This was also
Gosscalt's plan, as it would completely separate Lingon's army from the
Rabarrans down on the Gedvox. Lingon, however, had managed to keep in contact
with Seeldu and by the 20th decided to continue his retreat
north-westwards, if possible, to the passes behind Cuaduitth. There he would
perhaps remain within reach of help from Seeldu. But at the same time he sent
30000 Atlanteans to take up a defensive position in the woods east of the main
north road, to prevent Gosscalt trying to break through in that direction. He
then positioned a strong force on high ground to the west of this road,
allowing him to slip his main forces north-west behind it. Gosscalt was unable
to move this blocking force, despite several attacks, and thus it was that the
allies avoided having to continue retreating north up the main road. The
allies moved on towards the high ground near Cuaduitth, attacked continually
by the Basquecs, who wanted to force them into the mountains away from the
passes.

All this time Seeldu had continued his retreat through the woods and round
to the rear of the mountains. He managed to control the army, which had been
virtually in a state of rout on the 18th. He even succeeded in
losing his pursuers in this difficult country. Thus by the 21st he was
climbing up the almost trackless Therult mountains and by the 22nd
had passed them and lay only 13 miles from Lingon's army near Cuaduitth.
Gosscalt had no inkling of the presence of this force.

THE BATTLE OF CUADUITH, THE SECOND RETREAT OF THE BASQUECS TO BAVCUAT
AND THE ADVANCE OF THE RABARRANS IN THE SOUTH, APRIL 23rd -
28th

Lingon had about 120000 men defending his position at Cuaduitth, facing
about 130000 Basquecs. The Battle of Cuaduitth raged from late on the
22nd and on into the 23rd, with Lingon being forced
gradually back into the mountains and through the pass. But about 2pm, Seeldu
emerged from the north-west and smashed into Gosscalt's left flank with about
45000 men. This decided the battle and the Basquecs were forced finally to
retreat back on Bavcuat. They had lost as many as 28000 men, as against the
allies' loss of 16000. The final Basquec offensive was finished and only
complete disaster lay ahead of them now.

(Click on thumbnail)The Basquec counter-attack until the Battle of Cuaduitth, April 17th
- 23rd

Meanwhile communications remained difficult between the Rabarran armies in
the south and the north. Messages between the two, even using the newly
invented electrical telegraph, often took over a week. It was easier for the
Basquecs, and Gosscalt had at the beginning of April ordered the small army
defending the western route from the south to Tovduitth to be prepared to pull
back northwards, so that it could, if necessary, join in his planned
manoeuvres against Seeldu's army. The eastern army, which was acting as a
defence of Quachach against an advance from the south, was told to stay put,
sending some men to Quachach itself, so as to prepare defences there in case
they were needed. The Rabarrans followed up the Basquecs in the west, as they
slowly retired towards Tovduitth. The Rabarran command had originally wanted
to throw their main forces straight on Quachach in the east, but this route
was extremely strongly defended. As the Basquecs in the east were obviously
retiring towards Tovduitth and perhaps beyond, it was agreed to concentrate
110000 men to follow up this army, leaving just 70000 to face an equal number
of Basquecs south of Quachach.

Gosscalt retreated back towards Bavcuat, but as he did so, Lingon moved the
30000 Atlanteans that had been in the woods defending the direct road north,
to strike the east flank of the retreating Basquecs. This they did on April 26th,
and with help from the main army, forced the Basquecs to the east, away
from Bavcuat and the main eastern road leading to Quachach. Gosscalt tried to
counter-attack in order to regain his route to Bavcuat, but failed in this
attempt on April 27th and his army began to show signs of panic. At
this point he made a fateful - and fatal - decision not to try again to force
his way to Bavcuat and the eastern route, but to continue his retreat
south-westwards towards Tovduitth. He hoped to join up with the army down
there, and throw the joint force against Lingon's army. He assumed this would
have split up, part making directly for Quachach, and part following him.

THE BASQUECS' RETREAT AND THE SURRENDER OF THE BASQUECS AT TOVDUITTH, APRIL
29th - MAY 4th

Gosscalt continued to retreat to Tovduitth, where the route narrowed
between hills to east and west. By the last week in April the southern Basquec
army had already reached this position, facing south towards the Rabarrans.
Gosscalt hoped to pick up some of this force, and throw himself against his
pursuers. But now everything went wrong. Firstly Lingon followed Gosscalt's
army with nearly all his armies, leaving only a small force of Atlanteans at
Bavcuat to watch the road south-east to Quachach. Then he managed to edge his
troops up on to the hills to the east of Gosscalt's army. Equally the southern
Rabarran army had forced the Basquecs off the westernmost hills at the
Tovduitth gap. The result was that Gosscalt's Basquecs became increasingly
hemmed in the valley, with the allied army to the north and east of them. To
the south, the other Basquec army was being pushed north, although a part of
it still held the eastern hills. The day of decision came on May 4th.
The Basquecs were surrounded on all sides - Gosscalt and a small force of some
of his southern army managed to escape into the almost pathless wilds of the
mountains to the east. (8 days later Gosscalt and a few others finally reached
Quachach.) But the majority of the Basquec armies surrendered to the
Atlanteans and Rabarrans by the end of the day. This Battle of Tovduitth
involved the surrender of about 155000 Basquecs to a force of 280000
Atlanteans and Rabarrans.

THE ALLIED ADVANCE ON AND STORM OF QUACHACH, MAY 8th - MAY JUNE
23rd

It took a while for the allies to sort themselves out and deal with the
huge number of prisoners they had garnered, but already on May 8th,
100000 men began the march back to Bavcuat and then on round to Quachach, the
capital of Basquecieh. Gosscalt's whereabouts were unknown to anybody at first
and when news of the disastrous battle at Tovduitth reached the Basquec
authorities in Quachach, they soon began to consider seeking terms for ending
the war. However Gosscalt turned up on May 12th and immediately
began arranging the defence of the capital. By May 16th, the allied
army had reached Bavcuat and soon began moving on Quachach. The Basquecs had
about 40000 men left to defend the capital, plus the army of 70000 facing the
Basquecs to the south. Gosscalt hastily pulled this army back to hold the
hills surrounding the city, which was situated deep inside a sort of cleft in
the mountains, easily defended from every direction except the east. However
110000 men could have little chance against the 300000 allied troops which
would eventually be in a position to assault the city and its defences.

By the end of May, these allied forces had reached the city and were soon
able to force the enemy off the hills surrounding it. The allies demanded that
Gosscalt should surrender himself and his forces but he refused. Indeed he
called on his army on the Rualtacch, to the east, to come across and attack
the allies in rear. But this army was only 50000 strong, and was being forced
back all the time by 120000 Rabarrans. By the end of May it had reached
Votthac, and rather than stand siege there or help Gosscalt's forces, it
retired north-east across the river, with its commander declaring himself the
new ruler of the country. He soon started peace negotiations with the
Rabarrans.

In the end there was no help for it but that the allies had to storm
Quachach. This Second Battle of Quachach lasted ten days, from June
13th to the 23rd, and involved the most bitter street and house to
house fighting in the Basquec capital. The Basquecs, inspired by Gosscalt,
resisted with incredible tenacity, using every device and booby trap they
could to defend their city. At the same time allied guns bombarded the city
ceaselessly from the hills all round. Much of the place was reduced to ruins,
and by June 23rd, over 55000 soldiers were casualties as well as perhaps 20000
civilians. The allies, who had about 240000 men fighting (90000 Atlanteans and
150000 Rabarrans), lost 60000 men (24000 Atlanteans and 36000 Rabarrans).
Gosscalt was killed on June 22nd. On June 24th the remaining Basquec soldiers
and members of the Government surrendered unconditionally.

The Rabarrans, and for a while, Lingon, on behalf of the Atlanteans,
discussed terms with the Basquecs in the capital and in Votthac, the second
city, while the rest of the country gradually broke up into squabbling
warlords. Later in the year, the Rabarrans reached a peace-treaty with the
Basquecs, whereby they annexed a lot of territory to the west of the river
Basquec, and in the far south, and maintained a considerable military presence
in the country. The Atlanteans, due to the civil unrest to be described
shortly, did not reach a full settlement till 751, and had little influence on
the internal settlement of the country. The end result was a Basquec nation
divided up into four territories, and a very strong Rabarran influence on the
centre and western edge of the country.

(Click on thumbnail to open)The end of the war with the Basquecs - the Battles of Tovduitth and
second Quachach

At the same time as the war with Ughrieh was coming to its
conclusion, Atlantis was becoming increasingly riven by political
divisions at home. As described above, the Helvran nobleman Riuden had
been installed as Emperor in 749 by a more liberal clique in the ruling
class, backed by parts of the Army, which were acting on Internal
Security duties. It soon became obvious that Riuden was just a pawn in
the hands of the old die-hard Third Empire Squirearchy, and politics
continued almost as before. Of special concern to the middle and lower
classes was the Government’s policy of running down the large
industrial and factory establishments, which had grown up because of the
war, and the laying off of more and more workers. This was in addition
to the gradual reduction in the strength of the Army, and throughout, an
obvious determination to keep the whole Third Empire structure in being.
All power was obviously to remain in the hands of the upper classes.

As this failure of reform became clear during 750, there was a
resurgence of the riots in the bigger towns. In many cases, these were
also caused by a growing shortage of food. The Government’s attempts
to restore the Class 1 and 2 landowners to the property, of which they
had been deprived by the war and by local tenants taking unilateral
action, met strong, armed resistance. By May, the government was losing
control of large parts of the Empire. It wavered between some slight
measures of conciliation (the role of "Loyalists" was finally
abolished in April), and military force – more Army units were brought
back from the frontiers of the Empire to the centre, to act as police
and internal security. These were to protect landed estates and patrol
the increasingly rebellious large cities. At the same time, foreseeing
the end of the war within a few weeks, it ordered the reduction of the
Army from about 750000 to 580000, and many of the losses would be from
the officer class.

BUENTEL’S REVOLT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, AND THE THREAT OF CIVIL
WAR

This growing turmoil reached a climax, as the armies and generals of
the Empire began to take sides, for or against the status quo, and
threatened to bring civil war down on to the Empire. The most
significant event was the decision of Buentel to march to Cennatlantis
in support of the middle-class demands for a complete end to the Third
Empire, and the setting up of a new, more democratic regime. Buentel, it
will be recalled, had long had democratic beliefs, and he had fallen
foul of Brancerix in 746, at a time when he had been commander of the
main, central Atlantean army. He was moved to Manralia, and replaced by
the ultra-loyal Lingon. He now seized the opportunity of getting his
revenge. It was at the beginning of July, only a week or so after a
truce had been signed with the Basquecs, that he marched 65000 out of
the 100000 men in his army in Razira and Yall. Thiss. back towards
Cennatlantis. He left his second-in-charge to stay at the front with the
remnants of his army. Lingon, who was technically in strategic command
of Buentel’s army, was horrified, and accused him of desertion. Soon
after, he realised more clearly that there was a political and military
showdown approaching, and left the front to a subordinate, following
Buentel with 80000 men of his own. This was at the end of July. This
gradual disintegration of the Atlantean army from the frontiers, the
paralysis for the next few months of any central political authority,
and the political upheavals, which continued for at least another year,
led to the complete collapse of Atlantean diplomacy. In other words,
Atlantis was unable to take any real advantage of the collapse of her
enemies at the end of the war, and left the way open for Rabarrieh, in
particular, to secure great political advantages in the peace-treaty
with Basquecieh.

Buentel realised he was facing strong opposition to his revolt.
Apart from Lingon, with up to 180000 men in Basquecieh, there were
several other armies, which were either hostile or at best neutral –
none had come out in support of Buentel in July. In Yeldatlantis and
Cennatlantis, there were at least 60000 men acting as police and
Internal Security. On the river Gestes, and on the Ughan border, there
were another 60000, the army, which had recently defeated the Ughans.
Finally there was General Elthul’s army, 180000 strong, in the
north-west, which had just defeated Skallandieh. Buentel was least
concerned about the central forces, as these were split up into penny
packets, guarding towns and property, and fighting a nascent guerrilla
army, which wanted to overthrow the Third Empire on its own. Some, too,
were at best lukewarm about fighting their fellow-countrymen. Uneasily
supporting these rebels was the group of middle-class democrats, mostly
in Atlantis, Cennatlantis, Gentes and Helvris, who had appealed to
Buentel to support them. As he marched back, Buentel gathered up and
recruited additional men, but also left up to 40000 behind to delay
Lingon, when he had heard that he was following behind.

Riuden and his government, within the city of Cennatlantis, now
ordered the "Ughan" army to intercept Buentel, before he
reached Cennatlantis. Buentel had crossed the Gentes at Vulcanipand,
which made no attempt to resist him. He left a garrison of his men there
to hold up Lingon, and moved north, intending to approach Cennatlantis
from the east. He then came up against the "Ughan" force near
Yellis on August 10th. After a short battle, there was a halt
and a truce, and 30000 of the "Ughan" army came over to
Buentel. The rest, he sent back to the frontier.

Riuden now ordered the immediate suppression of all urban revolts,
beginning with Cennatlantis, where some rebels had barricaded themselves
into buildings. Loyal forces forced these to surrender or retreat to the
south, where they were joined by up to 15000 other rebels, a mixed bag
of disaffected, regular soldiers, and armed workers and middle-class
citizens. Their mood was becoming increasingly bitter, because of a
number of atrocities and massacres committed by the loyalist troops,
when clearing the rebels out of Cennatlantis. Both sides were trying to
win over Elthul’s forces in the north. Elthul had remained resolutely
neutral hitherto, but had moved 70000 of his men southwards towards
Cennatlantis in August, though without making it plain whom he was
intending to support. Finally in September, he came out in favour of
Buentel and the rebels. Buentel, by this time, was manoeuvring to the
north of Cennatlantis, near Gilliso, and seized Gasirotto at the same
time. He had 80000 men present, and was faced by about 50000 loyalists
at Cennatlantis. There were also 15000 rebels facing them nearby. Also
by this stage, Lingon had fought his way north to the Gestes, with some
70000 men.

The manoeuvres of the rival armies in Atlantis, July -
August 750

DECISION AT CENNATLANTIS – THE VICTORY OF THE REBELS

Negotiations between the two sides went on throughout August and
early September, but it was soon clear that Riuden was refusing to make
any serious concessions at all. The rebels agreed on Sualofo Thildoyon
as their candidate for a new Emperor, not without some misgivings from
the more extreme democrats. They also agreed that the whole Third Empire
structure should be dismantled by force. Buentel was now getting nervous
about the approach of Lingon, and decided to bring matters to a quick
conclusion. He crossed the Dodolla at Rundes, and approached
Cennatlantis from the north. The loyalists came out to meet him, and in
a hard-fought battle on September 25th, they were defeated, and forced
back into, or through Cennatlantis. Buentel and the other rebel forces
now completely surrounded Cennatlantis, which was occupied by Riuden and
his government, and about 8000 soldiers. Negotiations resumed, but they
still refused to submit to the rebels, fearing for their lives.

Meanwhile, Lingon, unable to cross the Gestes at Vulcanipand, moved
up its east bank, and crossed at Borepande, still holding a garrison
loyal to him. By the end of September, he had reached the Burastoura. To
counter him, Elthul now properly committed himself for the first time,
and moved with 45000 men into Gasirotto and Sirottis. Riuden managed to
smuggle a message out to Lingon, ordering him to come to their help at
once. But the rebels intercepted it, and Lingon turned instead to deal
with Elthul. Buentel continued to hesitate, and seemed to be trying to
give the Squires as long as he could to surrender peacefully. He did not
want to see Cennatlantis and its inhabitants consumed in a bloodbath.
But matters were taken out of his hands. Egged on by Thildoyon, the
rebel forces now attacked the enemy in the capital from the south and
the west, daring Buentel to support them. They could not succeed on
their own, and reluctantly Buentel committed a small part of his force
to join them. The original document here describes vividly the dreadful
end of the leaders of the Third Empire in Cennatlantis.

The manoeuvres of the rival armies in Atlantis and
the storm of Cennatlantis, August - September 750

The Great Continental War had been by far the biggest and most
destructive war ever fought on the Continent. It involved every nation
surrounding Atlantis, and Atlantis itself, of course, for up to seven
years of fighting. The one nation not involved was "Quendelieh",
the Western Empire, whose territories now abutted those of Atlantis in
Phonaria. Armies far larger than ever before were raised by conscription
in all these countries. Atlantis had 1,400,000 men under arms at the
maximum in early 747, out of a population of 35,000,000 (excluding areas
occupied by the enemy – it was 76,000,000 in 743). Basquecieh armed
1,100,000 out of a population in the Basquec Empire of 38,000,000 at any
one time; Ughrieh 750,000 out of 30,000,000; Rabarrieh 680,000 out of
18,000,000 (excluding enemy occupied areas); Skallandieh 600,000 out of
13,000,000; and Gestskallandieh 550,000 out of 11,000,000. Thus there
were over five million men in arms at the high point of the Continental
War, which, it should be remembered, involved essentially pre-industrial
societies.

Casualties were equally massive, and dwarfed anything hitherto, and
every war that followed up until the Final Wars after 870. Atlantis lost
over 550,000 fighting men killed, either by war or disease. Figures for
the other countries are much less certain, but probably Basquecieh lost
500,000, Ughrieh 250,000, Rabarrieh 400,000, Gestskallandieh 230,000,
and Skallandieh 350,000. Rabarrieh and Basquecieh had of course also
been at war from 732 till 737, when they had lost another 100,000
between them (mostly Rabarrans). In addition to the major campaigns and
battles, described in the account above, there were many other areas of
"minor" fighting and skirmishes, which produced their own crop
of casualties. Full-scale guerilla fighting took place against the
Basquecs in the south and west of Manralia, and the Basquec occupied
regions to the south. Similarly, there were incursions by nomadic and
other small tribes into the extreme east of Ughrieh and Gestskallandieh
from about 746 onwards and revolts by the North Kelts against the
Skallands after 747. Furthermore there was considerable loss of civilian
life in certain areas, especially those involved in guerilla warfare,
and incursions by "uncivilised" tribes, but also between
certain of the major combatants, whose feelings towards each other were
particularly bitter. This bitterness led to frequent massacres and
ill-treatment of civilians, and was particularly prevalent between
Rabarrieh and Basquecieh in the areas of Basquecieh and Rabarrieh
invaded by the other side. It also occurred in the parts of Dravidieh
and Vulcanieh occupied by the Basquecs. Nearly as serious was the
destruction to property in these areas and other regions fought over,
such as Anauren and the edges of Ughrieh. Incidentally, Anauren, which
disappeared as an independent country after the Skalland invasion of
744, was particularly badly hit by the war. Soldiers and civilians of
Anauren suffered around 150,000 deaths during the wars, and terrible
damage to property.

With this as the background, it is hardly surprising that at the end
of the war, all the combatants were prostrated, and most suffered, then
or later, serious internal and political upheavals. Ughrien disintegrated
as a united kingdom, and fell prey to civil war on and off after the
770s. Basquecieh collapsed into civil turmoil in the 760s. Skallandieh
was swallowed up by Gestskallandieh, and Atlantis saw the collapse of
its Third Empire, and narrowly avoided civil war thereafter. Only
Rabarrieh and Gestskallandieh came out of the struggle more or less
unscathed, but even in the case of Rabarrieh, trouble occurred some
years later, when its whole social system was revoultionised by a
religious revival.

THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION

The Continental War began virtually as a pre-industrial war, but
throughout its course, the fruits of industrialisation and innovations
profoundly affected the weapons used in the fighting. The fighting-men
of all the combatants began in 743 with a small number of firearms,
rifled or not, and a mixture of artillery types. By the end of the war,
nearly everyone was fully equipped with rifles and rifled artillery.
This greatly altered the way battles were fought, for the increased firepower and range of the new weapons, made the close-order tactics and
infantry and cavalry charges of earlier warfare far too costly. So
soldiers dug trenches, and both sides often faced each other in
stalemate, as at Cennatlantis in 745, and Atlaniphis later on, as well
as in south Anauren and on the borders of Gestskallandieh and
Skallandieh. Only the ability to engage in wide turning movements
enabled a war of movement to be resumed by Atlantis, Rabarrieh and
Gestskallandieh after 747. Attempts were made, especially by Atlantis
and Basquecieh, to break the deadlock by providing additional protection
for the infantry from armoured transports with steam propulsion, but
although this would be the way of the future, it had little success, at
least on land.

At sea, however, the new industrial processes which produced armoured
protection and steam-power were much more successful. Before 743, parts
of all navies were still wooden and powered by sail. Larger
breech-loading and rifled guns had, however, appeared on many ships in
almost all navies. The Basquecs had led on this, and in the 730s also
adapted a number of mostly smaller ships with iron armour plating, and,
in some cases, with steam-engines, as well as large rifled guns. These
ships had some success in the 732 war against Rabarrieh, and again after
743. Atlantis, as well as Skallandieh, quickly copied these Basquec
initiatives in the years running up to the War, thereby finally
rendering the ban on new technology a completely dead letter. The
fighting in the south led to initial Basquec victories, largely due to
their superiority in ironclads, steam-power and the size and power of
their gunnery. However, the allies caught up later.

In the north, Skallandieh had deliberately built a small but very
advanced navy before 744, with iron armour and steam-power. This helped
it to its initial overwhelming victories against the lees well-prepared
Atlantean ships in the area. Anauren, too, had some armoured ships,
which were captured by the Rabarrans in 744. Again, later, Atlantis
caught up with its rivals in this region, and by 750, all its major
ships were armoured and powered by steam.